


you turned my lungs to topsoil

by DetectiveRiley (RavenWhitecastle)



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Blood, Coughing, Hanahaki Disease, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Pining, Short, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:01:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22746712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenWhitecastle/pseuds/DetectiveRiley
Summary: John has hanahaki disease, but Harold doesn't need to know that.Harold is the last person who needs to know that.
Relationships: Harold Finch/John Reese
Comments: 12
Kudos: 54





	you turned my lungs to topsoil

act i

John wiped the petals from his lips and washed them down the sink. If Harold saw the delicate, pastel pink and purple blossoms, he’d have questions, and that was the last thing John needed. 

He knew what hanahaki was. Jessica had it, before she… before Peter had taken her life. She’d called John before it happened, short of breath and coughing softly on the other end of the phone. When John had gone to her home, there were petals peeking out of trash cans and drawers, but no flowers. He figured out pretty quickly what had happened. But he was still surprised when the spring after he’d met Harold, he’d pulled a petunia out of his own mouth. 

John finally figured it out, when Harold had recommended the eggs benedict, and John had ended up locked in the bathroom with a pile of lilacs at his feet. But Harold didn't need to know. Harold was the _last_ person that needed to know.

When he emerged from the bathroom, Harold was looking his way with a furrowed brow. “Everything all right?” he asked, “I heard you hacking away in there. That didn’t sound very good.”

John nodded, brushing Harold off as best he could. “It’s a seasonal thing,” he said, “Gets worse in the springtime.”  
Harold pursed his lips, but didn’t say anything more on the matter. John breathed as easily as he could, with his lungs as full of flowers as they were. 

act ii

The next year was even more severe. John swore at the rainbow flooding the toilet as he rested his forehead against the cool porcelain, trembling. There were roses this time, and lilies. And blood. The last coughing fit had nearly made him vomit, and red petals and red droplets mixed together on the floor. John flushed the evidence away, and wiped up the rest with a towel. 

Harold tried to help, even knowing as little as he did. He thought it was an allergy, a reaction to the pollen in the air. He bought John a humidifier, brewed tea, and kept a box of tissues on his desk next to his computer. John’s heart ached- Harold’s kindness only made it worse.

act iii

John braced himself when April came. He’d been holding his breath since March, trying to enjoy the last of the cold, clean air that winter provided. When the trees were bare, so was John’s airway. But after the previous year, John wasn’t sure he would survive. 

However, when the snow started to melt, and the trees began to grow their green buds once more, John could still breathe. He waited, thinking maybe it would bloom later this year. Maybe the winter frost had stunted the flower growth. It would come in May, he thought. The extra month was a blessing, and he cherished it, as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

But May came and went, and then it was June. And John could breathe. 

“John,” Harold greeted him one morning, “You’re looking chipper this morning.”

John managed a smile in Harold’s direction. “Guess I’m feeling better than I expected,” he replied. 

“Seasonal allergies not bothering you so much?”

John closed the distance between them, studying Harold with hooded eyes. “Not this year, no.” 

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> I read a post about hanahaki this morning and couldn't get the idea out of my head all day. Did this in a writing sprint with Branwyn, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I hope you like it as much as I do.  
> (You can interpret the ending as you would like. I thought it best to sort of leave it ambiguous that way.)


End file.
